REUTERS/Shamil Zhumatov
- Jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has been urged to end his hunger strike immediately.
- Navalny has been on a hunger strike since March 31, and doctors warn he could die any minute.
- The prominent Putin critic has been denied access to his doctors despite his deteriorating health.
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Jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny's doctors have urged him to immediately end his prolonged hunger strike, warning that there will be "no one to treat" if he continues starving himself.
On Thursday, the BBC reported that five of Navalny's doctors warned that Navalny could die if the hunger strike continues any longer. He started his hunger strike on March 31 and has persisted for 23 days.
"If the hunger strike continues even for a minimal amount of time, unfortunately, we will simply have no one to treat soon," they said.
The five doctors said they were denied access to Navalny, but said after looking at reports his latest medical tests carried out at a hospital in the city of Vladimir in East Moscow that "any further starvation can cause significant harm to Navalny's health and can lead to death."
They cautioned in particular that Navalny was experiencing serious issues with his kidneys and nervous system.
The doctors' statements were published on a Russian website, Mediazona. The five doctors - which include a cardiologist and a neurosurgeon - also asked to be given immediate access to Navalny for them to provide a reliable diagnosis and proper treatment.
"You should halt the hunger strike immediately to preserve your life and health," said the doctors, addressing Navalny.
Doctors warned on Saturday that Navalny could "die at any minute" and that he requires immediate intensive care treatment due to his potassium levels being dangerously high, which could cause severe heart problems.
On Tuesday, the Russian opposition figure joked about his health in an Instagram post, which he operates from prison via his lawyers. "If you saw me now, you would laugh," Navalny said, describing himself as "a skeleton walking, swaying, in its cell."
Navalny was poisoned with a Soviet nerve agent, Novichok, last August and was arrested when he returned to Moscow in January after receiving treatment in Germany for several months. Navalny is serving a two and a half year sentence in prison for charges that he says are politically motivated.
Navalny demanded access to his own doctors when he complained of acute back pain and numbness in one leg, but began a hunger strike when this request was denied.
He said that prison authorities were attempting to break his hunger strike by frying chicken in front of him and threatening to force-feed him.
Thousands of Russians poured into the streets to protest on Thursday, calling for Navalny's release. Hundreds were detained during the protests, which coincided with Russian President Vladimir Putin's annual televised national address.
The US has cautioned Russia that there will be "consequences" if Navalny dies in prison.
